After the ministers of the two governments took their seats one after another, the court meeting officially began.
"My lords, the Liao army is moving southward with inexplicable movements. It may mean breaking the alliance. The Liao Dynasty ignores the alliance and should be attacked!"
As soon as the court meeting began, Li Jie took the lead in setting the tone.
If the Liao State really dared to invade its borders, the Song Dynasty would never ask for peace.
Want to fight!
Then fight!
As soon as these words came out, even if the faces of the civil servants present did not show anything, they all felt pain in their hearts.
The iron cavalry of the Liao Kingdom intimidated all parties. If they really wanted to fight, the country and the dynasty might not be able to defeat them.
"Officials, I believe that the current trend of the Liao Kingdom is unclear, and our government should not act rashly to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings."
At this moment, Deputy Privy Councilor Zhang Shixun stood up.
From the ninth year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1016), when he was the king friend of Shouchun County, until the first year of Qianxing (1022), Zhang Shixun had been an official in the East Palace.
In addition, in August of the second year of Tianxi (1018), after Lehuang Mu, the chief official of the East Palace, was demoted, he became the chief official of the East Palace.
Therefore, among the ministers of the two governments present here, Zhang Shixun has the best and closest relationship with the official family.
Not only Zhang Shixun thinks so, but others also think so.
But the current official family is no longer the 'young emperor' that Zhang Shixun was familiar with.
For Li Jie, Zhang Shixun's talent, learning and virtue were indeed outstanding, but if we look closely at his political ability, Zhang Shixun fell short by a few points.
Moreover, Zhang Shixun's political style also tends to be stable.
This is completely inconsistent with the current situation.
Being too stable is not a good thing.
When Zhang Shixun finished speaking, Li Jie did not respond directly, but glanced at Ding Wei lightly.
After receiving the prompt, Ding Wei immediately stood up.
"Vice-Sultan Zhang, according to what you said, is it possible that we just waited and waited until the Liao army invaded the border area before taking action?"
"The military situation is raging. With such a passive response, how should the defenders in the border areas respond?"
Although Ding Wei is now an independent prime minister, Zhang Shixun is not afraid of him. When he saw Ding Wei contradicting him, he immediately choked.
"According to Prime Minister Ding's wishes, our country and the Liao Kingdom must be at war with each other, but I would like to ask Prime Minister Ding, the war in the northwest has not subsided yet, does our country still have the strength to open another battlefield?"
"If the Liao army goes south and repeats the old story of Jingde, can the story of Chanyuan be repeated again with the existing military strength?"
"At that time, will Prime Minister Ding be able to take on this responsibility?"
Facing a series of questions, Ding Wei was silent for a while. He was not speechless after being refuted, but felt strange.
Why is Zhang Shixun so radical today?
Fortunately, Ding Wei did not wonder for too long, and soon his doubts were solved by Cao Li.
During this gap, Privy Councilor Cao Lili suddenly spoke.
"What Vice-Shu Zhang said is true. During the Northwest War, the DPRK and China dispatched a total of 50,000 forbidden troops for reinforcements. Today, the number of forbidden troops guarding the capital is only over 100,000."
"With the existing military strength, there is really no spare capacity to reinforce the Hebei border."
'That's how it is.'
After hearing Cao Lili's words, Ding Wei suddenly understood.
Zhang Shixun has the support of Cao Liang. No wonder his performance today is different.
"According to Privy Council Cao's wishes, our court now has no troops available?"
Seeing that Cao Lili also stood up, Ren Zhongzheng no longer held back.
"Who is responsible for this matter?"
This sentence seems to be a question, but it is actually an affirmative sentence.
Who else could be responsible?
Of course it is the responsibility of the Privy Council!
The Privy Council is in charge of military affairs, and the Privy Council is responsible for the deployment and garrison of the Forbidden Army. Currently, there are no troops to reinforce Hebei Road.
Obviously, the Privy Council was not prepared in advance!
Obviously, this is the Privy Councilor's dereliction of duty!
Hearing this, a cold light flashed in Cao Li's eyes. Ren Zhongzheng was just a dog under Ding Wei, but he dared to fight with him in court!
I really don’t know what to say!
At the same time, Cao Lili also secretly wondered why the Queen Mother hadn't expressed her stance yet?
Based on his understanding of the Queen Mother, Liu E would definitely not side with the main war faction. The Queen Mother should side with him.
At this time, Cao Lili had no idea that Liu E's mentality had changed.
Although Liu E was still worried about the war in the north, seeing Li Jie's confident look, she was no longer as worried as before.
If I had to describe it, I would probably have found the backbone.
Although the official family is still very small, trust is such a strange thing. Once you trust someone, it is difficult to be overthrown in a short time.
Unless the person you trusted made a big mistake.
"I believe that our government should make two-pronged preparations. On the one hand, it will dispatch troops and generals to strengthen the border defense. On the other hand, it will send people to the Liao Kingdom to question the Liao army's intentions when it goes south."
Lu Yijian's speech sounded like a quarrel, but he used the word "question", which was enough to express his attitude.
He is inclined to fight.
Of course, the premise is that the Liao Kingdom really wants to go to war.
After Lu Yijian expressed his stance, the vote count immediately changed from 2 to 2 to 3 to 2, and the war faction temporarily had the upper hand.
Now, the only person left who has not spoken is Quan Sansi Envoy Zu Shiheng.
Who is Zu Shiheng?
Ding said so!
In this case, do you still need to listen to his speech?
They must be on Ding Wei's side.
The vote was 4 to 2, and the main war faction had the absolute upper hand. Even if Liu E sided with Cao Lili, it would not be able to affect the final result.
Seeing that the main fighting faction was about to win a complete victory, Liu E suddenly asked.
"Ancestral Envoy, if the war is about to start, can the Third Division supply food and grass along the Hebei border in time?"
Hearing this, Zu Shiheng glanced at Ding Wei subconsciously, and then immediately answered.
"Although the wealth of the three divisions is insufficient, there is surplus wealth in the local area. If it is transferred from the local area in time, it will be enough to supply an army of 200,000."
"good."
Liu E nodded slightly after hearing this. The rule of thirds was implemented in the country, and its original purpose was to support the capital in times of emergency.
She had had similar thoughts before.
At this point, Liu E no longer had any doubts in her mind. Money and people could be used, and it should be no problem just to defend the city.
To take a step back, even if something goes wrong, the court can urgently order Cao Wei to lead the army to support the war in the north.
Immediately afterwards, Liu E also expressed his attitude to the ministers.
"I think Lu Shenzheng's opinions are quite good."
The vote was 5 to 2, Li Jie said directly.
"Since the eldest empress likes Lu Shenzheng's opinion, let's deal with it according to Lu Shenzheng's suggestion."
"The official sage!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the main fighting faction headed by Ding Wei immediately shouted.
"Queen Mother Shengming!"
Seeing other people shouting "Sheng Ming", Cao Li had no choice but to follow suit with a dark face.
Today, the most frustrated person is none other than Cao Lili.
He really doesn't want to fight this battle.
During the Jingde period, although the Liao Kingdom finally retreated, and the Liao and Song Dynasties also signed an alliance, only those who experienced it personally would know how dangerous that battle was.